This week at Juno

New music from Dresvn, STL, A Made Up Sound and Nummer to albums by Voices From The Lake and Drew McDowall, with new records on Proibito, Charlois and more.

Dresvn – First Voyage (Honest Jon’s)

Yes! New Dresvn. It’s not every month, even year for that matter, that we get to embrace new music by the Acido and SUED pairing. Made up of Dynamo Dreesen and SVN, the Dresvn combo have been releasing music since 2009 and both Tall Stories and Woodlandscene EPs can’t be recommended enough by Juno Plus should you want to delve into their back catalogue. Having only kept their releases until now on Acido, SUED and Sex Tags, Dresvn makes the jump to Honest Jon’s with DJ Sotofett in tow following his debut album Drippin’ For A Tripp (Tripp-A-Dubb-Mix). Sotofett is granted valuable real estate on this 12” with his cascading extended remix of the title-track taking up the majority of the A-side which overflows in warm, naturalistic jungle themes, complimenting the Dresvn sounds heard on last year’s Untitled 12” for Acido. It’s the dreamy ambient house of “Sleepy Bay” that should hit the sweet spot just right for all the Dresvn collectors out there, and the B-side’s “Tippu Tip’s Ghost” is a tripped-out drum tracks for the freaks.
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Dollkraut – Green Hornet (Charlois)

Overseen by Rotterdam selector Patrick Marsman, Pinkman Records has firmly established itself within the fraternity of Dutch labels thanks to output from Drvg Cvltvre, DJ Overdose Innershades, Myriadd, and Xosar’s World Of Illusion 12”. Twelve months ago Marsman launched sister-label Charlois with Pascal Pinkert’s Dollkraut project, and in a short interview he told us of the label, “Charlois will be focus more on the disco, electro, wave and weirdo synth things while Pinkman will be releasing more (experimental) house and techno in the future.” It’s been a booming 2015 for the offshoot with music by Timothy J. Fairplay, Roberto Auser and Herzel finding release, and now Dollkraut returns with Green Hornet. As Marsman suggested, there are indeed fusions of Italo disco and electro to alternative synth pop on this record, and “Valium” is the undisputed highlight here. It’s a production that’s as seducing as Black Deer’s “Pray For Us” for its melancholic pop quality, while there’s wonderful Laurie Anderson vocoder techniques to be heard on “Bruce Wayne” in addition to the ‘80s New York electro vocals of “Mastermaster”. Go fetch!
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Mio Mio – Mio Mio EP (Proibito)

How Proibito has grown. Since Anthony Naples decided to launch his own label in 2013, Proibito has gradually developed a personalised aesthetic thanks to the lo-fi bent of music Huerco S. (also as Royal Crown Of Sweden), Austin Cesar and Hank Jackson. No stranger to introducing unknown quantities such as the aforementioned Jackson or Local Artist, the latest Proibito throws up another newcomer in Mio Mio. Functional club cuts are the order of the day here. “Painted On The Corner” sits on a slighty tech house tip with its skippy rhythm and Middle Eastern horn motifs, while for something less-Daniel Steinberg, the B-side’s “Floral” (Nude mix)” delivers warmer and dubbed out Detroit sounds cushioned by the sound of watery atmospheres.

Drew McDowall – Collapse (Dais Records)

Drew McDowall may not be the most instantly of recognisable names, but the project’s he’s been involved with over the years are nothing short of seminal. Formally an official member of Coil and Psychic TV, McDowall’s work is attributed to helping fuel the experimental revolution of electronic music brought upon the UK by the likes of his contemporaries Genesis P-Orridge and Peter Christopherson to Chris Carter and Throbbing Gristle. Dais Records now provides McDowall with a platform to release his debut album, this five-track Collapse LP, and he joins the likes of Bestial Mouths and Prurient to William S. Burroughs and ambient composer and painter Tor Lundvall to appear on the label. The A-side is taken up entirely by the 20-minute epic “The Chimeric Mesh Withdraws”, a piece reminiscent of Stephan O’Malley’s recent Gruides LP put out by Demdike Stare’s DDS label, while the B-side provides four experimental cuts of forlorn industrial ambience and provoking sound design laced with sanguine undertones of ambient melody.
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A Made Up Sound – Havoc (A Made Up Sound)

This year has been an especially generous one for fans of Dave Huismann’s A Made Up Sound project. There has been the treat of some more unreleased dubs landing on Clone by way of the Archive III 12”, an appearance on the ever impressive Acido Records and one previous single on the self-titled label he helms. Now another pair of jagged tracks come your way, and they reflect the Dutch artist’s ongoing commitment to experimentation at odds with the club-calibrated flair he has risen to prominence on. “Havoc” comes flying in at a skewed angle, all thunderous synth stabs battling with mammoth amounts of processing and a lurching groove that tests the limits of danceable material. “HHJOABS” shows no sign of going soft on the flip either, leaving the drums at home and letting huge wads of detuned melodies rain down with a sense of sonic grandeur.
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STL – Listen Up! (Mutual Friend Recordings)

After Our Mutual Friend kicked off their label with a split 12” featuring DC Sux last year, they turn to a veritable hero of the house music underworld for the second release. STL is already looking back on a productive year, having released on his own label Something as well as Lick My Deck, Smallville and Echocord, and this single continues his strong run of form. “Smile Function” is a stunning example of the deep house depths Stephen Laubner can fathom, all lilting metallic chords, subby bass mumbles and artfully loose percussion. “Wrong” meanwhile has fun with all kinds of wonky lead lines and a purposeful bump before “Mind Puzzlin” burrows down into intricate techno beat patterns with a mystical edge, all finished off with that inimitable crunch that could only come from one studio.
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The Persuader – Varblommor (Tardis)

In the spirit of these backwards-focused times, Jesper Dahlbäck made a wise choice in reigniting his The Persuader alias back in 2013. The early Svek records fetch a pretty penny now, and that’s purely down to the absolute quality of the sounds contained within. Fortunately the diligent Swede has lost none of his mojo, and recent releases from The Persuader (including the ace album Skägård) have stood up to the timeless quality of the old material with no trouble at all. The dubby sound of Dahlbäck fits snuggly on Eli Verveine and Oscar Schubaq’s Tardis label and “Vitsippa” thrusts in tempo as dreamy pad elements smooth out the edges. “Blaklocka” feels deftly laconic in comparison, however it’s “Snodroppar” that really captivates with its strafing chords and techno-tough backbone.

Voices From The Lake – Live At MAXXI (Editions Mego)

It seems as though Donato Dozzy and Neel’s live collaboration as Voices From The Lake has founded itself on the strength of live performance as much as recorded output, if not more, and there have been plenty of opportunities in the past few years to catch one of their marathon performances. On this release for Editions Mego however, the live show in question was an experimental concern held in Rome’s MAXXI museum, and it lets the tonal and textural qualities of the duo come to the fore without the sway of the dancefloor as a distraction. There is much to engage with here, avoiding the pitfalls of monotony without roaming from their hypnotic, minimalist ideas. Each of the seven pieces stand proud on their own terms, from the ritualistic chime mantras of “Sonia Danza” to the fussing cosmic tapestry of “Richiami E Oscillazioni” replete with sounds from Dozzy’s recent solo album.
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Capracara / JTC – Bubble N Squeak (One Day Wonder)

After those brief appearances on Soul Jazz in the mid ‘00s, Capracara took some time out only to get back into the swing of things with some rambunctious releases for Unknown To The Unknown. That was a few years back now, and since then the UK producer has kicked off the One Day Wonder label, and comes back with a third installment penned in partnership with prolific acid jacker JTC. The results are feisty, not least on A-side jam “Bubble N Squeak” with its relentless bleep line and low down nasty groove capturing something of an early Djax vibe. “Reggie, Don’t Panic” meanwhile heads into less familiar territory, using an urgent drum machine beat as a backdrop for fine slithers of atonal synths to go whirring and humming about the place in a successful sojourn into experimental, but no less primal, territory.
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Nummer – Circadian Rhythms (Nummer Music)

Dave ‘2562’ Huismans was not the only production unit indulging in double-dropping antics this week, with French pair Nummer offering up fresh new 12” releases on Fragile Musique and their own fledgling label. Whilst the Life Path III 12” for Fragile is a fair representation of the Nantes label’s growing profile, we’re particularly happy to see Circadian Rhythms finally arrive as it’s a 12” we’ve been waiting to have in our hands some time. If you read the profile on Emmanuel Corre and Silvère Letellier published on Juno Plus back in July, you’ll know the Nummer sound seems to improve with each record, and these three tracks find the pair in a quietly confident mood. There’s a cheeky main room kink to lead track “Street War Success” whilst “The Golden Age” is Nummer at their star-gazing, box-beating best. Our personal favourite is “Downtown Breukelen” however, with Corre and Letellier indulging in some truly murky sub-aquatic techno.
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